herbs
Publié le 22/02/2012
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Greek The mythic power of herbs to
transform people and to restore life to the dead features
prominently in several Greek myths. Gaia, the
Earth Mother, the oldest goddess in Greek mythology,
found an herb that would protect the Gigantes
(Giants), some of her children, in their war with
the Olympian gods. Zeus, the supreme god among
the Olympians, who were themselves descendants
of Gaia, obtained that herb and used it to help him
defeat the giants in their war against the gods.
The herb moly helped Odysseus resist the efforts of
the goddess-sorceress Circe to turn him into a swine
70 Herbs
when he landed on the island of Achaea. The heroine
Moria used an herb known as balis to restore her
brother to life after he had been bitten by a snake.
Dittany, a creeping herb of the mint family that
is native to Greece, was known as the herb of Venus
and was also the sacred herb of Artemis, goddess of
childbirth and chastity. Some historians suggest that
women in ancient Greece used dittany, also known as
ditamy, to bring on menstruation.